Safe Schools

ARTICLES ABOUT SAFE SCHOOLS BY DATE - PAGE 3

By Chris Sexton Special to The Morning Call - Freelance | March 14, 2002

More than 50 local religious and community leaders joined students and parents on the steps of Allen High School in Allentown on Wednesday as part of a simultaneous statewide interfaith prayer vigil for public education reform. The vigil was part of an effort by Good Schools Pennsylvania, a nonprofit organization affiliated with the National Council of Churches that has a goal of improving public education through adequate funding equally distributed in the state. The organization says the state's reliance on local property taxes to fund school districts shortchanges poor districts with shrinking commercial tax bases.

The East Penn School District hired a full-time security specialist Monday to protect its property against vandalism and serve as a point person for safety issues. "We're looking for some visibility after school in the buildings," said Superintendent Arlene Morgan. "We've had some very poor behavior in some places and it has caused damage." Frank J. Stavish, retired from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, was hired for the $39,000 a year job. He will begin Jan. 28. Last year, the district incurred $35,000 in property damage, Morgan said, a lot of it from skateboarders using curbs, concrete steps and handrails to perform trick moves.

Having two security guards patrol Palmerton Area High School and its grounds would cost the district nearly $35,000 a year, the Palmerton Area School Board learned Tuesday night. In a written report, Dean of Students Todd Gombos suggested contracting with a private company. That would allow the district to save money in benefits, employee training and insurance. Gombos did not attend the meeting. The board, which began discussing hiring security last month, did not act. In his report, Gombos wrote that he interviewed three private companies and is comfortable with one. He suggested the district have a male and a female guard patrol from 7:15 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. every day. The price tag would be $34,840.

Allentown School Board has given the go-ahead to a new policy prohibiting hazing in school-sponsored organizations. At Thursday's policy committee meeting, the board approved the hazing policy for a first reading at next Thursday's board meeting. "This is a key component in maintaining safe schools," Ralph Daubert, director of student services, told the board. There have been no incidents of hazing in Allentown schools, Daubert said. The proposed policy was a proactive move, he said, advised by the Pennsylvania School Boards Association.

An anti-violence program that has won national acclaim is teaching pupils at a Jim Thorpe elementary school the skills they need to avoid bullying. The program, called Second Step: A Violence Prevention Curriculum, was developed by the nonprofit Seattle-based Committee for Children. Principal Denise Wettstein used a portion of a federal Safe Schools grant to buy the program for the L.B. Morris Elementary School. "We have our share of bullying," Wettstein said. "But in light of what we were seeing after [the April 1999 shootings at]

On Wednesday, 14-year-old Elizabeth Catherine Bush allegedly shot and wounded a classmate in the shoulder at their Williamsport Catholic school. Bush's lawyer said his client had endured name-calling and other verbal bullying at school. On Monday in Santee, Calif., 15-year old Andy Williams, allegedly tormented by relentless bullying that included anti-gay slurs, opened fire on classmates, killing two and wounding more than a dozen others. On April 19, 1999, Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, enraged at being called "dirtbags" and "inbreeds," used semi-automatic weapons to slaughter 12 students and a teacher, and wound 23 other people at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo.

Legislative candidate Dennis Parsons has gone to the two-minute drill in the last days of his campaign to unseat state Rep. T.J. Rooney in the 133rd District. The Bethlehem Republican held two news conferences in as many days to attack the Democratic incumbent's record and criticize his views on education and gun control. Literature Rooney mailed to constituents suggests education measures for which proposals were developed and implemented and endorses actions he voted against, Parsons said Tuesday at Bethlehem's Clearview Elementary School.

There is no specific profile of a student who will target a school for violence, Secret Service officials say. The Secret Service is responsible for protecting the president and other political figures, but during a presentation at Lehigh University Wednesday, agency representatives spoke to more than 80 Lehigh Valley law enforcement and school officials about making schools safer. U.S. Rep. Pat Toomey, R-15th District, arranged the presentation and invited the attendees. Toomey said law enforcement and school officials will benefit from the in-depth research and analysis of the federal agency.

Allentown School District is giving it the old rah-rah, brushing up its image with a series of radio spots on two Citadel Broadcasting stations -- WCTO Cat Country 96.1 and WLEV 100.7 FM. The weeklong campaign, which runs through Friday, notes that the district's SAT scores increased by 20 points in the past year. Allentown opened the first year-round school in the state, the ads say, and its safety program is the most comprehensive in the northeastern United States. "Our ROTC program," district spokeswoman Cheryl Lichak said, "is the No. 1 in the nation."

For several years, the Jim Thorpe School District has been monitoring students on its buses with video cameras. Now, the district wants to know if it can listen too. The school board, using a $39,000 federal Safe Schools grant, bought 18 video cameras in May. The cameras also can tape audio, said Business Manager William McElmoyle. Before using the cameras, the board told its solicitor, Carl Beard, to write a policy on their use. As part of his research, Beard is checking to see if it is legal to audiotape on the buses.